Mireuksa Temple Founding

Overview

Mireuksa (彌勒寺) is a temple founded during the reign of King Mu (r. 600–641), the 30th king of Baekje, at the southern foot of Mt. Mireuk (Mt. Yonghwa) in present-day Geumma-myeon, Iksan, North Jeolla Province. It was the largest temple among the Baekje temples of the Three Kingdoms period. In January 2009, during the dismantling and repair of the West Pagoda (Iksan Mireuksaji Stone Pagoda), a reliquary set and a gold reliquary inscription were discovered in the central pillar of the first story, confirming that in the first month, 29th day of the year Gihae (639), a Baekje queen enshrined relics and erected the pagoda (the date is according to the lunar calendar).

Founding Legend

According to the entry on King Mu in the Samguk yusa, while King Mu and his queen were on their way to Sajasa (Sija Temple), they reached a large pond at the foot of Mt. Yonghwa, and the Maitreya triad appeared from within the pond. The king stopped his carriage and paid his respects, and the queen asked that a great temple be built on this site. The monk Jimyeong, using his miraculous powers, leveled the mountain overnight and filled in the pond; on that spot, a statue of the Maitreya triad, a assembly hall (hoejeon), a pagoda, and a corridor-storehouse (nangmu) were each built in three places, and the temple was called Mireuksa. It is also said that King Jinpyeong of Silla sent craftsmen to assist.

The queen in this legend is identified as Princess Seonhwa, the third daughter of King Jinpyeong of Silla. The legend of the Seodongyo connects the story of King Mu, whose childhood name was Seodong (Seodong), and Princess Seonhwa with this temple.

Temple Layout

Following the belief that Maitreya saves all sentient beings through three sermons (the Three Assemblies of Yonghwa), the temple adopts a "three-院 (sam-won)" structure, with a main hall and a pagoda each erected in three precincts: the East, Central, and West precincts. A wooden pagoda was placed in the Central precinct, and stone pagodas in the East and West precincts. The stone pagoda of the West precinct transfers the joinery of wooden architecture into stone; it is the largest and oldest of the extant Korean stone pagodas and is regarded as the origin of Korean stone pagodas.

Reliquary Inscription

The gold reliquary inscription discovered in 2009 is engraved with content to the effect that "our Baekje queen, the daughter of Jwapyeong Sataek Jeokdeok (沙宅積德) … built the temple and in the first month, 29th day of the year Gihae, received and enshrined the relics." Along with it, a gold reliquary jar, a glass reliquary bottle, six bronze containers, a silver crown ornament, and gilt-bronze lumps were also unearthed.

Significance and Debates

• The reliquary inscription is a decisive source that reveals the construction date of the West Pagoda (639) and its patron.